Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Today was my Disney Animation Studio day, and I got a pretty good turnout for the 401(k) enrollment meeting. (Attitudes change when stock markets revive.)

Then I went upstairs and talked to various animation staffers, who told me:

"They called us all in and said, 'Now that the picture [The Princess and the Frog] is done, we're cutting your weekly pay some more.' ..."

"People around here aren't happy about it, but what do you do? This is a paycut on top of the one we already had with the 45-hour week thing. Everybody's just kind of numb and resigned. But the company's got to keep paying Bob Iger his $51 million, I guess ..."

I listened to the complaints and thought: "What's wrong with these people? Don't they know there's a recession on? They should be glad they have a freaking job ..."

I would go on, but I'm running out of management-type cliches. I'm sure that the top echelons of Disney Co. have tightened their belts as well. (Not. Except, of course, for Dick Cook ...)

What the above quotes refer to is newer pay cuts that were given to some of Disney Feature's staff a short time ago. (I didn't hear about it until today.) The atmosphere at DAS is not cheery, but everybody knows that the 2009 marketplace is not ablaze with profit-sharing and salary increases.

41
comments:

Anonymous
said...

Gonna happen more. Disney's looking at shipping even some feature animation to India. Look for more staffing and pay cuts in the near future. Gotta pay for Dick Cook's golden parachute and Iger's bonus.

The 45 hour weeks and pay cuts set a bad precedent..at least in my mind. When will hours and pay go back to normal? The economy can be used as an excuse for a long time. It's like the airline charging for bags...once people get used to it and accept it...will things ever go back to how they were before?

You didn't know that the leads were told to work 56 hour weeks at the same salaries starting after Bolt wrapped? No one told you? That was a long time ago.

When the supervisors got this happy news last year there was talk of the minimum hours going up eventually for the rank & file artists. So, it's finally happened. Way to go management! How much of a cut have they had, btw?

I wonder if given the huge amounts of mandatory OT required to finish Bolt people reading this realize just how huge a pay loss this will be for the leads on Rapunzel. No more time and a half or double time but still having dinner at work, working 7 days straight and weekend after weekend after weekend, just like Bolt. No vacation until the layoff time, then no pay at all for months. Feeling blessed to be hired back under these conditions.And the icing on the cake? No contracts, no security, no nothing. A cynical assurance that the slobs will jump through any hoops however high.

And this is the reward for one of the most skilled, dedicated crews of animation artists anywhere on the planet.

I'm not an animator, but a Disney fan. And reading the kind of stuff I'm reading here makes my blood boil. I realize it's futile hearkening back to the days of Walt...but at point in his career, he would raise his animators' pay before he took one himself. And now I read about today's animators taking pay cuts and working OT for free, and the company outsourcing animation to freaking INDIA!!!

I HATE THE NEW DISNEY COMPANY! I'll always be a fan of Walt, but THIS company, forget it! I'm so glad I took at pass at D23. It would have made me sick watching the current money-grubbers use his likeness and vision to sucker in the rubes!

Screw Iger! He's no improvement over Eisner! Glad I don't have stock in Disney...and I never will!

Just an FYI for everyone complaining. Walt Disney Animation Studios has not had a profitable movie since Lilo and Stitch. Not even Chicken Little or Bolt made a profit. Princess and the Frog is the first movie in 10 years to come in under budget and have the potential for turning a profit. If this trend had continued any longer I can guarantee you that it would be shut down. Then what kind of salaries would the animators be making?

Keep in mind that domestic BO is only part of the pie, there is international BO, broadcast rights, PPV, DVD and probably a couple I'm missing.

When all is said and done, most films turn some sort of profit..eventually.

The thing to consider: sure if employees are feeling "mistreated" at studio A they can go to studio B...but ever so slowly the business practices of one place can ooze into the practices of another..a indusry trend is put into motion ...studio A is slashing salaries so why are we paying people more??

A almost related example. Remember when Blue Sky cranked out IA2...what was it 6 to 8 months..insane right. Everyone said wow..that's insane!! But hey..they got it done and it looked great....hummmm. How many other productions have now followed this trend? By golly its almost becoming the norm now days..

Talking or writing about conditions at a studio, how they are currently, what's going on with OT, pay and loss of same via salary cuts and so on isn't "WHINING" or complaining"--it's just freaking reporting what is going on.

ANYONE (besides management) have a problem with that? And if so--why?

It's puerile to respond: "You don't like it? Leave". I would guess every person working there is fully aware of that option. I didn't say that all FA employees hate their jobs. Most are proud to be working there and ALL are doing fantastic work, even with pay cuts they should NOT(imho)have to take.

But read what Hulett, the Union Business Manager, states: he had NO IDEA about leads having hours increased, thereby effectively eliminating OT pay. That's probably because NO ONE told him. To share information is just that: sharing information. It's not tattling or whining. It's just telling what's going on. The people there have no contracts anymore. They know they can stay or go. Don't presume to tell them that on top of that they are prohibited from having an opinion about Company doings, especially salary cuts/OT policies/etc.

If there's any "argument" I hate it's the old "sit down and shut UP". Life's not all rainbows and moonbeams and no one wants to work around a sourpuss agitator, but it's also true that that hardly means the employees have to be happy-happy zombies about a working situation.

This is why I despair at this blog having readers and comments from people NOT in the business. They don't get that it's a JOB as well as an art and a vocation, and that it's possible to bargain, take issue and such without being a crybaby or a bad apple.

A successful animated feature is the gift that keeps giving; re-releases, sequels, TV spin-offs, licensing, etc. Animators don't owe the producers an instant substantial profit for the right to make a living. Just like the animators, the producers could leave and go to other professions, as well, if they are unsatisfied with their profit margins. Maybe they can become investment bankers.

The current trend to take the economic situation out on the animators is stupid, evil and dangerous. They are going to kill the golden goose, big time.

Im sorry, but "waiting for work" is completely unacceptable. If you find yourself free (truly free) then begin brainstorming new tools or organizing for upcoming tasks, sketching, or do anything to become a better artist and add value to you and the company. If you're a good employee, its impossible not to be busy, EVER.

Putting "waiting for work" is about the dumbest thing you can do. And unless my years of experience are wrong, I'd bet 20 bucks this particular artist is probably middle-of-the-road in terms of talent, but probably high on the "grumpy complainer/know-it-all" list.

Perhaps you had a bad experience at Disney, but for every one of you, there's 10 who have had a zero-politics, hard-work rewarded, over-achieving, mafia-less time at Disney.

PS) Ill take the official published 150 million number as fact over the random blog poster who thinks its higher. Besides, you dont even know how to spell Ratatouille.

I'm curious what happens to the people that don't agree to go on call. Sure they can't make ya do it -wink wink- because they are a union shop after all and if they made you work OT with out paying you..then that would be bad.

But if we "ask" that you work for free and you "agree" there's no harm in that....really...I kinda think there is. In this climate where one has to be concerned if they will be employed once a project wraps...yeah I see why people would agree in hopes of winning some points with management come layoff time.... ah the sweet smell of manipulation.

Well, I didnt have any kind of negative politics when I was there. Nor did any of the people I talked with everyday. We were aware of other people who had some personal problems with people, but for the most part we just all worked hard and got our shots done.

You mocking it doesnt make it any less true for us. In fact, it just kind of discredits you

Acting like a "victim" sounds like the definition of republicans. They're always blaming others and not taking responsibility for their actions, and expecting others to take care of them. Makes you wonder why they're so afraid of choice and a free market.

Thing is, we already have a lot of socialistic programs in the united states that are mandatory (what do you think taxes are and where do you think they go?)

Here's a list i found.

The New National banking system (bailed out by you and me)The VA HospitalThe Post OfficeJailsMedicareSSIDMVUnemploymentParks (national and city)Beaches (national and city)LibrariesRoad, Streets, Highways, FreewaysSchoolsStreet lamps and or any lighting paid by the Gov't (city included)The U.S Military

So I dont understand why the health care debate has raised such radical claims by the GOP that Obama is turing us all "socialist." Basically, all it would do is expand Medicare to cover everyone who doesnt have private insurance. Big deal. They'd have us thinking he's marching us to concentration camps, takin' our guns and rapin' our wives. Jeez.

Because it's a way to enflame the morons so those that are getting big money from the insurance comapnies can continue to get their big money while they are all on gov't healthcare.

They would have called it Communism or Nazism if they thought they could've gotten away with it, but Socialism is so little understood it's easy to convince the same people who voted for W twice to start screaming.

"Politics is in every workplace. If you didn't experience any while at Disney, you weren't very high on the foodchain."

No kidding. I had the same thought. Middle of the road cog-not that there's anything wrong with that. But it's so annoying when someone jumps from saying "IV'E never had a problem"[okay, fair enough, Goooooooddd for yoooooou!] to "-and anyone who does is probably NOT AS GOOD and just a whiner". Please stand up for a mo' and remove that huge stick from your ass.

As a matter of fact in hard times and a decreasing workforce the fact is that it's often people who are more talented than average who get the knife IF they also have less of a support base for whatever reason. Doesn't have to mean they're an asshole either.

And if every person who complains about hours or any other aspect of their jobs left, there'd be no one at the lunch table. That's a fact. If they're not "complaining" to you it's because they don't trust you enough to be honest around you.

Longer hours at less pay sucks for EVERYONE, big and small, well paid and less paid. Even the "best" artists.